NEWSLINKS
US EDITION
COLUMNISTS
DIARY
SPECIALS
INTERVIEWS
CAPITAL BUZZ
REDIFF POLL
THE STATES
ELECTIONS
ARCHIVES
SEARCH REDIFF

Search the Internet          Tips

Recent Columns

Defending Salman F is a dirty word The heart has its      reasons Frankly, Clueless Behram Contractor RIP

Subverting the truth

Wherever you look, rumours rule. So strong is their presence today that no one really knows what is right, what is wrong. Even the media has, slowly but surely, fallen a prey to rumours. In fact, so strong has gossip emerged that it has acquired a life and legitimacy of its own.

Look at politics. So powerful is hearsay today that most newspapers and magazines have started carrying regular gossip columns. These columns are often manipulated by those close to the columnists and soon, I fear, there will be PR agencies who will specialise in getting stories planted there to assist those who are ready to pay their fees. And maybe a little bit extra to cover what is now popularly described in the post-Enron era as educational costs.

As long as rumours are restricted to gossip columns, it is fine. You can identify their domain. But, like roaches, gossip has a life of its own and before you can say Turkman Gate in Bhojpuri you will find that rumours have jumped out of the gossip columns on to the news pages and are slowly crawling towards the front page. In fact, in many mofussil newspapers this is already happening. What is carried in the gossip columns of the mainstream media becomes front-page news there because, in this hugely competitive age and time, everyone wants to sell his or her newspaper or magazine and nothing sells better than rumours. The more salacious, the better. The more disgusting, the more eye-catching.

This is not to say that all rumours are false and must be suppressed. No. But my fear is that if the media does not create separate and independent geographical locations for what is real and what is hearsay, they will run the risk of misleading their readers and viewers.

In fact, if they are not careful, they will over a period of time lose their credibility as independent and reliable observers of the scene. What is worse, they could end up being used by manipulative politicians and their unscrupulous middlemen. The already thin dividing line between truth and hearsay will vanish, leaving all of us in a dangerous no man's land where we have to judge ourselves what is true, what is not. Instead of relying, as we would still like to, on independent journalists and independent media to guide us through the minefield of politics and help us to form our opinions.

Look at the movie press. It has gone exactly down the same street. What began as occasional subversion by the PR agents of different movie stars, who planted gossip about others and good things about themselves in the magazines, has now become so rampant that no one really believes what they read any more. They believe what they choose to believe. It is no longer the journalist who determines what the reader should believe.

In effect, the journalist has lost the moral edge. He or she cannot decide for the reader anymore. The reader makes the call now. What he or she wants to believe is the truth. What he or she wants to reject is gossip.

The same is happening to many of the colour supplements of mainstream newspapers. While they may be drawing more and more readers, in reality they are chipping away at the credibility of the main brand. They are hurting the image, ruining the respectability of a newspaper built up over so many years and sometimes decades. For, while gossip may be fun, it is also terribly corrosive. It destroys and eventually demolishes the very platform it uses. In fact, it ruins the credibility of the media as a whole apart from ruining the lives and careers of individuals.

But why am I bringing this up here? What is the provocation?

The provocation is that I see so many stories in the media today that I, with two decades' experience in journalism, can easily recognise as plants. Plants by politicians in power. Plants by the police. Plants by the underworld. Plants by PR agencies working on behalf of their often nefarious clients. And, of course, the usual bunch of stories planted by the corporate communications departments of different companies.

Some of these are windbag stories. Loud, noisy farts by media-savvy corporates and their top bosses. Others are devious strategies to undermine rivals, grab market share, demean competitive brands and products. I see politicians doing the same. I see glamorous heroines doing the same. I see everyone caught up in this desperate game of one-upmanship.

As a result, the watchdog role of the media is slowly vanishing. More and more people believe that it is just another business and journalists are just another bunch of people making a livelihood, albeit often against great odds.

This is not what it used to be. In the eighties, the media was seen to be the people's weapon against corruption and venality in public life. As the last resort of the small guy fighting the big, brute, insensate system.

Today, very few people see the media as such. They see it as just another channel for news and entertainment. In fact, what is even worse, they see most of the news itself as entertainment. The dividing line between the two has disappeared. There is no difference between watching News Hour on Star TV and Survivor on AXN. Both are taken with the same pinch of salt. The absoluteness of truth has vanished in the melee of gossip and rumours, fakery and trivial pursuit.

In the process, reality takes a backseat. And, if the media does not wake up to this, our front pages and news headlines will soon be subverted as well.

And then?

Then, do not complain if readership shrinks and viewership falls. The media will have only itself to blame.

Pritish Nandy